Controlling mechanism for locomotive boosters



Nov. 22, 1932. H. J. TITUS CONTROLLING MECHANISM FOR LOCOMOTIVE BOOSTERS Filed Feb. 18, 1981 I: Sheets-Sheet 1 Nov. 22, 1932.

H. J.- TITUSI ,778 I .CONTROLLING MECHANISM FOR LOCOMOTIVE BOOSTERS 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Feb. 18. 1931 [NV NTOR A TTORNEYS Nov.'22, 1932. "H. J. TITUS 1,388,778

CONTROLLING MECHANISM FOR LOGOMO'I'IVE BOOSTERS- Filed Feb. 18. 1931 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 7/ IIIIIIIIIIIII gr Patented Nov. 22, 1932 UNITED STATES PATENT. OFF C HUBERT J. runs, or PATnRson, new brass asszenon ro rRANKLrN RAILWAY SUPPLY COMPANY, or mew rotor, is. Y.,'A oon-ronnrron or DELAWARE CONTROLLING MECHANISM iron Locomotive Boos'r Rs Application filed'February 18, last, SeriaLNo. 516,568.

The present invention relates to a controlling system fora locomotive booster motor and is particularlyconcerned withthat type of locomotive booster equipment in which the or motor.

steam for Operating thelbooster is supplie'd' to'the booster through a plp'ewhich iseonply of operating steam to the booster will be out 01f.

Under such circumstances, the reciproca- I tion of the pistons in the cylinders of the locomotive, while the locomotive is drifting vwith the throttle valve closed, .w-ill createa suction in the steam pipe leading to the boos The suction so created is sufficiently great to draw from the booster the coniparatively small quantity ofsteam ordinarily supplied through the preliminary throttle valve. It should here be noted thatthesteam supplied to the locomotive booster'through the preliminary throttle valve,- is used for the purpose of idling the booster in order toclear it of condensation, as well as to insure proper meshing ofthe gears during entrainment. V f

With all ofthe foregoing in mind, the objects of my invention willb-e better under-: stood, and they may be said to include the provision of means for preventing withdrawal of the supplementary steam supply" at times when the locomotive is drifting with its throttle shut off; the provision of means.

for closing the booster throttle when the pressure of steam in the booster supply. line falls below a predetermined point; and'the" provision of a suitable pilot means for automatically effecting the objects; just enumerated.

.I also wish to can attention at threat-.1. that it is oftendesired tolreep the booster in operation at times when it is necessary to drift theengine over turn-outs. Ornp, to a signal, With arrangements}previously in In arrangements V not shown.

received its supply of steam from the steam pipe leading to" the locomotive cylinders, when the locomotive throttlewas closed be cause, just as soon as the locomotive throttle use, this was not possible where the booster was closed, the booster would be thrown out of operation. However,flw ith"the improvements herein set forth, it is possible to keep the boostergears inmesh .or the booster entrained and to maintainthe supply of supplementary or preliminary steam customary inthis art, even at times when the main lojeo motive throttle is closed.

The foregoing, together with such other objectsas may appear hereinafter or are incident to my invention, are obtained by means offtheequipment which is illustrated inxa preferred form in the accompanyingdrawings,jwherein 1 Fig. 1 is a diagram. of albooster controlling mechanism embodying my improvements;

" Fig. 2 is anenlarged view of the entrain- 'ing mechanism with the entraining motor illustrated in section; l V Fig. 3 1s an enlarged View, partly in section,

my invention Fig- 4 isan enlarged detail Viewillustrating the principal features of construction in what is known as the reverse lever pilot valve for; a booster controlling systemofthe char-j acter herein disclosed; i 1 i Fig. 5 is an enlarged section through the preliminary throttle valve mechanism and, a Fig. 6 is an enlarged section through ,the

illustrating the pilot mechanism used with v lfiuid actuated motor device-for operating 8 the booster throttle valve;

. Referring to the drawings and particularly in thefirst instance, to Fig. 1, it will be seen 1 that I have shownone of thelocomotive cylin- 'ders 7, which is supplied with steamin the usual way through steam pipe 8, whichis under the control ofthe locomotive throttle, The cylinders 9. of'the booster motor lO are supplied with steamjthrough the supply line or'pipe 11, which is connected, as shown,

).to the supply means 8 for-the locomotive" cylinders the flow of steam talringplacein 10o the direction indicated by the arrowsrin the P e v hen it is desired to place the booster in operation, the reverse lever pilot valve 12 is actuated by means of the latch 13 to permit air pressure coming in from the reservoir through the pipe 14 to reach the pipes 15 and 16, the former of which goes to the entrain- "ing motor 17 and thelatter of which to the preliminary throttle Valve 18, direction of the flow of the air being indicated by the arrows. a

This operation is now well-known in this art but reference may be hadto ,Fig. 4 for a detail showing of the manner in which the air travels from the pipe 14 to the pipes 15 "and 16; The latch 13 presses against the plunger 19 and closes the valve20 while open- "ingthe valve 21,510 that the aircoming in.

through the pipe 14'can pass from the chamber into the chamber23 and from thence into the pipes 15and 16, as clearly shown in' Fig. 4. r

hen it is desired to idle the booster'motor, the handle 24 may be turned so as to rotate the valve25 to a positionwhere will directly connect the pipe 14 with the pipe 16 through the channel 26. r This will permit air to reach the preliminary throttle valve 18, shown-in detail in Fig. 5.1 When the pressure "reaches the piston 27 in the preliminary throttle'valve, it will force the said piston downwardly in order'to open the valve 28 and thereby permit steam to How fromthe pipe 29 to the pipe 30',,which leads'to the steam suppl pipe llgoing to the booster, the

7 direction 0 F flowxagain being indicated bythe arrows.

When the air pressure reaches the; entrainboostercran'k shaft36. The axle gear '34 is,

-ofcourse,'fixed tothe a xle-37, which axle isthe one to be driven by the locomotive'booster.

After entrainment has taken place,:the air passes out from the entraining motor-17* through the pipe 38, whichwdelivers to the pilot mechanism indicated as a whole by the -1lis above. a predeterminedcpoint' which, of course, can beiregu lated as desired by varyreference' character 39. Here the air is blocked by means of the valve 40, which is g V seen to bestadvantage in"Fig.-3.' The lower portion of the pilot mechanism is connected to the booster steam pipe 11 so that-the piston 41 issubject to the control of the pressure of steam in the pipe 11, th.e steam entering the pilot device through the passage 42. J

.Wheneverthe pressure inthe steam pipe ]in"gthe 'tension of the springs43 and 44,'the

' V fpiston 41 will be moved upwardly so as to close valve 45 and open valve 40., In this way air will travel from "pipe 38 over to pipe 46, which leads to the booster throttle operating motor or cylinder 47 shown in detail in Fig. 6. i

As will be seen upon inspection of Fig. 3, the air coming in'through pipe 38 is also free to pass out through pipe 48 toa similar pilot device 49 which controls the air going through pipe 50, the latter being connected to the cyl inder-cock-controlling mechanism used in this art but not illustrated in detail in the present case because it forms no part of the present invention and need not be described in order I to fully appreciate and understand the invention claimed herein. a

By referring to Fig. ,6, it will be seen that the air coming in through'the pipe 46 will depress the piston 51, which is connected by I a I means of the rod 52 (shown in Fig. 1) to a suitable levermechanism 53 for raising and opening thebooster throttle valve 54. lVhen 7 pressure is exhausted above the piston 51 the spr'ingj55 will, of course, return the piston 51 to its upper position and close the booster throttle valve '54.

The operation of the controllingsystem may be summarized as follows:

If, for any reason, the locomotive throttle is closed such, for example, as will occur when, the engineer pulls back his throttle lever in order to stop slipping of the main drivers, I

or when he desires to drift over a turn out or up to 'asignahthere will, of course, be

no steam going through the pipe 8*to the; cylinder 7 and the booster supply pipe 11."

Shouldthis condition continue for any length of time, the booster steam pipe 11 would soon be drained of all of its steam and the suction created'by the pistons in the cylinder.

7 would be sufficient to pull or draw any supplemental steam coming in through the preliminary pipe 30 out of the booster line'll so that practically no steam would "reach the booster. p I However, by my invention the pilot means '39 will now operate to close the Valve 40 and thereby shut off thesupply of operating fluid "tothe booster throttle'op'erating' motor 47."

The booster throttle 54will immediately close and the steam pipe 11 will not be drained of.

any steam coming in through the pipe .30.

WhatIclaim is:- j 1 Locomotive booster motor apparatus including in combination with a cylinder of I the locomotiveand its steam supply means, a steam actuated boostermotor, an axle to be 7' driven thereby, entraining mechanism for "connectingthe booster'mo'torto said axle includinga fluid actuated entraining motor, a steam supply pipe connecting the booster rnotor with said locomotive steam supply 7 means, a throttle valve insaid supply "pipe,

a-- supplemental means "forjsupplying @the booster motor -with steam, 'a fluid pressure; actuated motor device for opening said' throt tle valve, a line for supplying fluid pressure opening means acting to close the valve upon substantial cessation of pressure in the steam supply means for the locomotive cylinder whereby to cut ofl the supply of fluid to the throttle operating motor without disturbing the supply to the entraining motor.

2. Locomotive booster motor apparatus in which the booster motor is normally disentrained and inoperative, characterized by the fact that a fluid actuated motor mechanism is provided for effecting entrainment and further by the fact that the booster is supplied with operating steam through a line which is connected to the supply means for the locomotive cylinders and is also supplied with preliminary steam from an independent source and, still further, by the fact that fluid actuated means are provided for con trolling the line which supplies the booster with its operating steam, which means receives its fluid pressure from the entraining mechanism after entrainment has been completed and, finally, by the fact that means are provided for closing the line which supplies the booster with steam by cutting ofl the supply of fluid to its fluid actuated-controlling means upon substantial cessation of pressure in the supply means for the locomotive cylinders but without causing disentrainment of the booster.

3. Locomotive booster motor apparatus including in combination with a steam actuated booster motor, a primary steam supply line therefor, an axle to be driven by the booster, entraining mechanism for connecting the booster motor to said axle including a fluid actuated entraining motor, a thottle valve in said primary booster steam supply line, a supplemental means for supplying the booster motor with steam independent of the control exercised by said throttle valve, a fluid pressure actuated motor device for o enin the throttle a line for su alyin i P e r a P1 e fluid pressure to said entraining motor, a line adapted to supply fluid pressure from the entraining motor to the throttle opening.

motor after entrainment has been efiected, a valve in said last line, and means actuated by pressure of steam in the primary booster motor steam supply line for opening the valve in the line which supplies fluid pressure from the entraining motor to the throttle opening motor, said valve opening means acting to close the valve upon substantial cessation of pressure in the primary steam supply line whereby to cut ofl the supply of fluid to the throttle operating m'otor without disturbing the supply to the 'entrainingl motor.

4. In locomotivebooster motor apparatus, 7

booster motor, fluid actuated mechanism for the combination of a normally'disentrained eflecting entrainment thereof, a steam su e ply line for the booster, a throttle valve in said line, fluid pressure actuated means for opening said throttle, a line for supplying fluid pressure to said entraining mechanism,

a line adapted to supply fluid pressure'from the entraining mechanism to the throttle actuating means after entrainment has been eflected, a valve in said last line, and means actuated by pressure of steam in thesupply line for opening said valve, said valve openmg means acting to close the valve upon substantlal cessatlo'n of pressure 1n the-steam supply line'whereby to cut off the supply of, fluid to thethrottle actuating means without disturbing the supply to the entraining motor. 1

5. In locomotive booster apparatus, the combination of a booster motor, mechanism for entraining it to aid in driving the locomotive, a normally closed primary steam supply line for the booster, means for opening said line after entrainmen'thas been efl"ected,sup-

plemental means for supplying thebooster motor with steamindependently of the-supply through the primary supply line, and

means acting independently of the entrainment mechanism for effecting closure oft he primary line. upon substantial cessation of pressure therein.

In testimony whereof I signed my name.

HUBERT J. TITUS.

have hereunto 

